Speaking Of American Idols...

In a past life--around 1978 or so--I went to work at a record store called Harmony Hut at Springfield Mall in Virginia. Shortly thereafter I learned about the infamous Leif Garrett in-store appearance.

Who, you young whipper-snappers ask? Garrett was some young pretty-boy singer at the time. You can think of him as a one person version of the New Kids on the Block, if that helps. And if you're too young to remember them, you really shouldn't be reading this site. It's probably past your bedtime.

Anyway, his record company scheduled Garrett to do an autograph signing at the store. The people organizing the thing apparently figured a few dozen people would show up to get his signature.

Boy, were they wrong! In fact, their predictions were almost as wrong as the Bush Administration's predictions about Iraq.

The day of the Garrett appearance thousands of screaming teenage girls showed up at the store. Things quickly deteriorated as mall security found itself unable to manage the situation. There was lots of pushing and shoving and general mayhem, and the appearance was quickly aborted. Garrett was rushed out of the store through the loading dock while employees desperately tried to close the store. The sliding glass doors actually ended up being shoved out of their tracks by the force of the screaming mob.

During the two years I worked there, we had a few other lesser known singers and groups do appearances, and none ever came even close to creating the pandemonium unleashed by Leif Garrett.

He eventually faded from the public's consciousness, replaced by "talents" like Rick Springfield and Shaun Cassidy. I've occasionally wondered whatever became of Garrett, and now I know.